Former Dutch star Marco van Basten will take charge of AZ Alkmaar on a two-year deal from this summer, the Eredivisie side announced on Friday.

"AZ and Marco van Basten verbally agreed on Thursday a contract through to the summer of 2016," the club said in a statement. "The formalities will be sorted out in the coming days."

Van Basten, 49, will succeed Dick Advocaat, who returned to the club for a second spell last October and led them to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but they lie an underwhelming seventh in the Dutch top flight with two games remaining.

Van Basten's coaching career has never matched the heights of his distinguished years as a player.

After four years in charge of the Netherlands and a brief spell with Ajax, Van Basten took over at Heerenveen in 2012, but he had already announced that he would leave the northern club at the end of this season.

As a player, Van Basten won the Ballon d'Or three times and famously scored a spectacular goal for the Netherlands in their victory over the Soviet Union in the 1988 European Championship final.